with yesterday’s agreement to the fracking legislation package the coalition caves in to the pressure of the oil & gas industry and seeks to establish legal security for fracking in Germany. The legislation package represents no complete and indefinite ban and gives no adequate protection from the risks of fracking. Therefore it has to be rejected. With the art term ‚conventional fracking‘ fracking in tight gas or tight oil reservoirs will be generally allowed and will even be possible in Natura 2000 areas [nature reserves]. The bill suggests that fracking in sandstone is less dangerous because it has been practiced in Germany for decades. But earthquakes, soil & groundwater contamination as well as a increased number of cancer in German gas fields speak a different language. The risks for nature, drinking water and health depend on the application of the hydraulic fracturing process and not on to what reservoir or geologic horizon it is applied to.

The actual bill enables federal states to ban fracking in abandoned mining areas and regulates fracking in shale strongly. Therefore it represents a commendable improvement to the original bill. But it still does not meet the requirements of environmental protection, climate change mitigation and health protection. New scientific findings on the climate impact of methane emissions, hazardous transformation products from chemical reactions of fracking fluid with production water under ground are not addressed in the bill.

In addition, further unlocking of oil and gas reservoirs contradicts the goals of the Paris climate agreement and will result in an increase of global emissions, not in a decrease. the protection of climate, nature, drinking water and health must be top priority and must not be sacrificed to oil & gas industry interests.

Therefore we appeal to you: reject the negotiated bill package and stand up in the parliament for a comprehensive ban of fracking for the exploitation of hydrocarbons. That is the only way to create legal security for the affected local citizens and to ensure the safety of man and nature.